Research Excellence Framework - Scottish Funding Council

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The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education institutions (HEIs).  The last exercise was held in 2021 and the next will take place in 2029.

SFC, Research England, Medr (Commission for Tertiary Education and Research), and the Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland) conduct the REF jointly.

The purpose of REF is:

To provide accountability for public investment in research and produce evidence of the benefits of this investment.
To provide benchmarking information and establish reputational yardsticks, for use within the Higher Education sector and for public information.
To inform the selective allocation of funding for research.

In Scotland the results of REF inform allocation of the Research Excellence Grant (REG).

REF 2029

Overview

The four funding bodies are currently developing the REF 2029 exercise in close consultation with the sector.

Further information is available on the REF website or by emailing ref2029@sfc.ac.uk.

Latest news

The REF 2029 website contains all the latest REF news and developments.

REF Codes of Practice: Administration

REF Codes of Practice Submission Process: June 2025 – May 2026

This explains the process for the Submission for Codes of Practice, which is the minimum requirement set to participate in REF 2029. Guidance on the content of the Codes of Practice can be at Section 8 – Code of Practice guidance – REF 2029.

Administration

The administration, submission and approval process for all UK HEIs’ REF 2029 Codes of Practice is being managed by the Scottish Funding Council on behalf of the four UK Funding Bodies.

Submissions for Codes of Practice – 2025-26 – Process

Codes of Practice from HEIs across the UK should be submitted for approval to ref29copsubmissions@sfc.ac.uk.

Codes of Practice submissions should be made during one of the four windows below:

28 July 2025 to midday 1 August 2025.
29 September 2025 to midday 3 October 2025.
1 December 2025 to midday 5 December 2025.
2 February 2026 to midday 6 February 2026.
Final approvals: 29 May 2026.

As set out in the Section 8 – Code of Practice guidance – REF 2029 we anticipate that the approval process will take a maximum of 3 months for each submission. All final approvals will be made by 29 May 2026.

Receipt of your submission will be confirmed by SFC Codes of Practice Administration.

Assessment and approval of your submission will be undertaken by staff from your HEI’s Funding Body. Where necessary they will be informed, as appropriate, by the REF 2029 People and Diversity Advisory Panel (PDAP) and/or Research Diversity Advisory Panel (RDAP). Any queries arising during this assessment will come direct to HEIs from their Funding Body.

Queries from HEIs

Send queries on the submission process to ref29copsubmissions@sfc.ac.uk.

Send queries on policy and guidance on Codes of Practice to info@ref.ac.uk.

Future Research Assessment Programme

The Future Research Assessment Programme (FRAP) was initiated at the request of UK and devolved government ministers and funding bodies. This significant piece of work, launched in May 2021, was led by the four funding bodies and aimed to explore possible approaches to the assessment of UK higher education research performance following REF 2021.

Through dialogue with the higher education sector, the Programme sought to understand what a healthy, thriving research system looks like and the role that a national assessment model can have as its foundation. The work strands included evaluation of REF 2021, understanding international research assessment practice, and investigating possible evaluation models and approaches. The Programme aimed to identify evaluation approaches that can encourage and strengthen the emphasis on delivering excellent research and impact, and support a positive research culture, while simplifying and reducing the administrative burden on the HE sector.

An international advisory group was established to guide the funding bodies in their evaluation and consultation activities.

The results of the Future Research Assessment Programme inform the development of REF 2029.

REF 2021

Overview

The last research excellence framework was carried out in 2021. REF 2021 built on the REF exercise carried out in 2014, taking into account the recommendations of an independent review into that assessment process.

The results of REF 2021 were published on 12 May 2022. We have also produced a summary of the specific Scottish results:

The funding bodies commissioned a thorough programme of evaluation of REF 2021. This included a review of the exercise’s costs and benefits, analysis of impact case studies (an element of the REF submission which aims to demonstrate the impact of university research beyond academia), and analysis of research outputs submitted to the REF.